friends, family, school, work, types of activities (hiking, swimming, movie-going), life falls into many categories. often there is an attempt keep things separate, like “don’t mix business with pleasure”, a way to keep it “clean”, so to speak.

logically i understand – if you mix your job with your home life there is the possibility that things could get difficult in a situation that would require you yo be unbiased.

“unbiased”, to many, means being completely unattached to the people involved. if someone is completely separated from the situation, they are not invested in the outcome of those people.

there is a balance between being completely unbiased and completely influenced by a relationship. to be truly just, in my humble opinion, is to fully understand all sides of a situation. this means going beyond the mere facts, getting the full story, and being fully invested in what is best for everyone.

and i have sidetracked a small bit.

life is messy, chaotic, overwhelmingly so at times. in some ways, we learn better being stuck in the big mess. if we work too hard to separate different parts our lives, we could miss great opportunities.

i learned about making my own supplements (drinks, snacks, energy bars) for running & hiking from a neighboring exhibitor at an art show. a running friend of my fathers helped get a fundraising event noticed through his old work connections. and who knows what else?

to be able to balance the diversified parts of life with the ability to flow easily between. or better yet, to feel they are all completely connected – i would love to be that balanced.

i’m slowly attempting more balance.

i have had numerous journals for numerous reasons throughout the years. i have a few websites. in highschool, college, and my early 20’s i had friends who i would hang out with for different things – hiking vs movie going vs dancing (@ a club) vs who knows what.

in more recent years there has been more blurring of lines, attempting to exist, live, and be. as usual – more complicated & much simpler than said.

in light of this blurring of lines and attempting unity i will be sharing my parts of my running journey.

my writing challenge: balance – inclusion and equality of subjects (ie the goal is to continue a broad variety vs. beaing taken over by running information).

my running challenges:

see how fast i can run training for a single marathon.

sticking with the training

include running as a part of my life

raising $800 (hoping for $1000) for a great charity. (more on that in a minute)

last year my life was very much consumed by running (for more info http://www.racethestates.com). relearning “regular” life was a struggle at first. part of me wanted to run away from running (excuse the word play). another part wanted to jump right in and push as hard as possible because i should. then i began enjoying it again and sorting other things out (rehashing a bit of my renewal entry here).

now it’s more recreating the harmony of many aspects like running, work-type-things (i do a few things as a volunteer vs paid person), jackson (our new pup), gato & yem (our kitties), quality time with joe (the partner in crime*), actual worl (paid), friends, family, and on and on and on.*crime = sillyness, learning, and other adventures

today (3 days after beginning this post) i went on a run with our local group. i continue to waver between ‘why did i decide i want to run fast’ and thoroughly enjoying the challenge & runs. luckily the enjoyment seems to be growing stronger.

this strength was given a big push when i finally signed up for a marathon (and a half before then). signing up creates more of a motivation on the days i struggle. even more motivation is that i am raising money for a great non-profit for my spot in this event.

to donate or read about my fundraising: this is my fundraising page. you can also hit the link on the right side of the page below the “search box.